Page 88 of The Viscount's Unwanted Bride
“I intended to.” He looked lost. “It never seemed like the right time. I came to… to care for you, and I didn’t want you to be upset with me.”
She pressed her fists to her eyes. “Upset?”
She was more than upset. Never mind the strange way he and Nicholas tried to shelter Lady Blackwell. For now, she could even forget the urge to wonder what on earth had possessed Lord and Lady Blackwell to make the decision to lie. But what she couldn’t stop thinking about was that she’d metNicholasat the Wembley ball, not Theo.
It cast their entire relationship in a new light. She’d known that Theo hadn’t wanted to remarry—he’d told her as much. But she’d at least thought that he’d been the one on the balcony with her that night, so while she had harbored some guilt over her feigned trip, she had consoled herself with the fact that they were both victims of circumstance.
Now, he was telling her that it was his brother she’d chatted with. It was his brother who’d fled and left her there. Not him.
Everything she’d thought she’d known was false.
Theo’s face was carved in harsh lines and he was breathing heavily but didn’t seem to know what to say. She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. To demand to know why he’d had to be so blasted honorable and marry her to protect his family when he hadn’t wanted to.
His brother had made a mistake, and he’d paid the price.
How lowering to realize that the “price” in this case was marriage to her.
She’d been blind not to realize it. He didn’t want her. He never had.
“I need time alone,” she said and rushed out of the bedchamber.
CHAPTER 28
Theo yanked on his shirt,fumbling with the buttons as he raced after Kate. He had only made it a few steps outside his bedchamber when he crashed into Nicholas.
“Get out of the way,” Theo growled, pushing Nicholas aside and running to the door of the bedchamber that Kate had been using while the viscountess’s chambers were being renovated.
He grabbed the handle and tried to open it, but it was locked. He debated whether to bash on the door and demand she open it but figured that was unlikely to endear him to her at the moment, and he needed all the help he could get.
“I’m sorry,” Nicholas said, resting his hand on Theo’s upper arm. “I assumed you’d told her.”
“I hadn’t,” Theo admitted, his gut tight with shame. “She knows now.”
Nicholas grunted. “That much was obvious. It was unwise of you to deceive her for so long. I don’t know her well at all, but I doubt any woman would be pleased by that behavior.”
Theo gave him a look. The last thing he needed right now was to have exactly how big a mistake he’d made pointed out. He already knew. “I didn’t mean to. I intended to tell her at somepoint, but I delayed longer than I ought to have. It’s just that I got distracted, and it slipped my mind.”
Nicholas snorted and rolled his eyes. “I can’t see her accepting that excuse very well, brother. Why don’t you come away from the door? I’m sure she needs a few minutes to herself.”
“I….” Theo hesitated. He didn’t want to leave Kate alone when she was upset. That said, she had asked him to do just that, and it wouldn’t be right of him not to respect her request. With a sigh, he glanced over his shoulder and then reluctantly returned to his bedchamber.
Nicholas followed.
“Other than this, how have you been getting along together?” Nicholas asked, his nose wrinkling as he looked at the bed. He crossed to Theo’s small private writing desk and sat there instead.
Theo stood. He couldn’t bring himself to sit on the bed where, less than a few minutes ago, he had lain naked, holding Kate, everything apparently right with the world.
“It’s been difficult, but we came to an understanding today. I… I told her I cared about her.” He looked down at his hands, unsure what to do with them. “I think ‘care’ might be a misnomer. She makes me feel things I haven’t in a long time.”
“That’s good.” When Theo sent him a dubious look, Nicholas added, “No, it truly is. You deserve to have someone important in your life again. I’m just sorry I blundered in like a clumsy oaf without checking how much she knew first. Although, honestly, Theo, you should have been forthright with her sooner. If you’ve grown close, it’s no wonder that she’s hurt now.”
Theo flinched. He hated the thought of Kate hurting and himself not only being unable to do anything about it but also being the cause of that hurt.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
Nicholas’s shoulders slumped. “A matter of import came up in parliament. It relates to international diplomacy. It’s going to a vote early next week, and I don’t feel able to stand in for you. The documents they’ve provided for us to go through are dense. You know how I struggle with that type of thing. At the very least, I need you to review them and tell me how to vote. I don’t want to get this wrong.”
“Did you bring them with you?” Theo asked.
